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The handing over ceremony of the sundanese manuscript in Indonesian National Library on Wednesday August 7th 2024 (Photo : Perpusnas) - 

VOInews, Jakarta : The National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas) received 536 ancient Sundanese manuscripts submitted by the Indonesian Ngariksa Budaya Foundation.

This ancient Sundanese manuscript is a collection of R. Haris Sukanda Natasasmita and Viviane Sukanda Tessier which was collected in the 1970s to 1980s. The acquisition of this manuscript adds to the collection of ancient Sundanese manuscripts owned by the National Library, bringing the total to 1,003 manuscripts. Handover of manuscripts in the form of physical manuscripts as well as digital data and metadata.

The National Library is the institution that collects the largest number of Sundanese manuscripts in the world, beating the Leiden University Library in the Netherlands which holds 785 similar manuscripts.

Acting Director of the National Library, E. Aminudin Aziz, stated that this handover was not just an addition to the collection, but also had strategic significance in mainstreaming Indonesian manuscripts.

"Mainstreaming Indonesian manuscripts is a program that we have initiated to start implementing in 2024. And we are trying to channel this into a priority program at the National Library," he said in the talk show "Nusantara Manuscript Figures: Working Together Towards Mainstreaming Archipelago Manuscripts", which was held hybrid on Wednesday (7/8/2024).

Plt. The Director of the National Library added that the process of collecting and organizing manuscripts had become a top priority for his institution, even though the challenges faced were quite large.

“I tried to talk to my friends at the library about what had been done regarding the arrangement of the manuscript. "It turns out, they have worked a lot to collect manuscripts, but the publications are still lacking," he said.

Limited human resources and the costs required for manuscript preservation are said to be the main obstacles. "Manuscripts that have been damaged must first go through a conservation process, which takes quite a lot of time and money, while we have limited manpower," he explained.

Therefore, the team at the National Library carried out a priority selection to determine which manuscripts should take priority in the preservation process.

Apart from internal challenges, National Library also faces pressure from external parties to acquire manuscripts from various regions. “We are grateful to the parties who pay attention to external manuscripts and are ready to work together. "Today we gather together to express our shared commitment to preserving the heritage of this archipelago," he continued.

The handover of this ancient Sundanese manuscript is an important moment resulting from collaboration with various parties, namely the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University and DREAMSEA (Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia) which has digitized the ancient manuscript .

"We will provide the public with the widest possible access to these manuscripts, through digitization and providing information on the official National Library website. "We believe that the past is a lesson for us to look to the future," he said.

In a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Wednesday 07/08/24, Chairman of the Indonesian Cultural Heritage Foundation Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said the handover of this ancient manuscript was an effort to encourage the state through the National Library to be more proactive in preserving the riches of past civilizations.

According to him, the main challenge for this nation is how to overcome the disconnection from a past that is full of ancestral values ​​and wisdom.

"We often lose context when facing various problems, whether social, cultural, educational, economic, political or religious, because we are disconnected from the values ​​and wisdom of our ancestors," said Lukman.

Meanwhile, in a talk show, DREAMSEA Principal Investigator Oman Fathurahman said that the DREAMSEA program focuses on inventorying and digitizing vulnerable manuscripts with a proactive approach.

“Since 2017, DREAMSEA has changed its approach to be more proactive. "We are no longer waiting for proposals to come, but are looking for and inventorying manuscripts that need digitization assistance, by visiting local communities that have valuable manuscripts but do not have access to preserve them," he explained.

Over the past seven years, this program, which is supported by the philanthropist Arcadia Fund, has visited 168 manuscript owners in various regions in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.

"From this effort, we have succeeded in saving 8,570 manuscripts through the digitization process," he explained.

British Library main curator Annabel Teh Gallop explained that over the last ten years, around 500 Indonesian manuscripts in the British Library have been digitized.

“We started this project in 2013-2023. "At the British Library there is no special budget for digitization, so it must be sought through external budgets such as foundations or donors," he concluded//VOI